The holidays are fast approaching, so this November eNewsletter includes quick tips to help you through the hectic weeks ahead. Learn how to place photos in the message pane of your Christmas e-mail letter. Check out sites with wonderful holiday recipes and entertainment ideas. And because Internet threats never seem to take a holiday, we update you on a flaw in Internet Explorer and explain how to manage browser security. Never got the gift of natural math ability? No problem. The Help Desk features a site for quick math calculations.

The goal of each of our monthly eNewsletters is to keep our subscribers informed regarding their Internet connection and to improve their Internet experience. To meet this goal, each monthly newsletter will usually contain information related to:

Warnings on a recent virus, e-mail hoax or security issue that may affect you

An update on new services and other local interests

An answer to a frequently asked Internet related question

Some fun, seasonal websites to check out

A short, step-by-step tutorial on an e-mail or browser related task

We think you'll find the information contained in this newsletter to be a valuable tool for enhancing your Internet experience. If, however, you'd prefer not to receive these bulletins on a monthly basis, click HERE.

To see what's inside this issue, take a look at the index to the left and thanks for reading!

- The Homefront Reporter Team

Warning!- Download Patch To Fix New Flaw In Internet Explorer

An alarming flaw was discovered in Internet Explorer's Vector Markup Language (VML) coding which allowed hackers and cyberthieves to plant malicious computer code on thousands of websites. (VML is used for high-quality vector graphics on the Web.) By clicking on a tainted website, control of your computer could turn over to the attacker. E-mail spam is being used to lure victims to these websites; many designed to steal account log-ons and other sensitive data. In some cases, the malicious program can be activated by simply opening the e-mail message or having it appear in the preview window of your Outlook inbox.

Microsoft quickly released a security patch for the VML problem and strongly encourages all Internet Explorer users to download and install this patch if they have not done so already. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms06-oct.mspx. This is a good time to remind you that the easiest and most reliable way to help protect your PC from the latest Internet threats is by signing up for Automatic Updates at http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/update/msupdate_keep_current.mspx. When your computer is connected to the Internet, the Automatic Updates service analyzes the Microsoft software installed on your computer and checks for any high-priority updates you need—both current and past. It then downloads the updates for you and installs them at the time you choose.

This recent VML problem is the latest in a surge of attacks focused on the relatively unprotected Web browsers. Browsers are appealing to cyberthieves because everyone has them and they provide a window to the outside world and a potential way to break into computers. While this exploit targets only Internet Explorer, it is vitally important to stay on top of security issues and install updates promptly regardless of the computer or Web browser you use.

Of course, it is also important to use and regularly update your computer's anti-virus software. Always scan file attachments of all incoming e-mail messages—even messages from people you trust. Many viruses and worms are spread over networks, through attachments, and by sharing storage media such as diskettes, Zip disks, and CDs. You have the ultimate responsibility for protecting your computer against these threats.

With the holiday season just around the corner, more and more marketers are going to try to reach you via email. With Postini software available from 3 Rivers, you can block out as much spam and junk mail as you want. Postini is an email protection service that provides each user with a Message Center where your spam and viruses are filtered and quarantined. Your legitimate email messages are delivered to your email inbox, just as they always have, but junk and virus-infected email is routed to your Message Center. The service is customizable.

You can remove unwanted messages and deliver the ones you want from the Message Center. You can also safely read the contents of a virus-infected email in your Message Center without the risk of harming your own personal system. Regular reminders instruct you to check your Message Center and review quarantined email. All quarantined messages are held for 14 days and then are automatically deleted, unless you remove or deliver them.

If you use Postini now, you already know the value of this great service. But if you haven't adjusted your filter settings lately, this might be the time to review them. For a reminder on how to make adjustments, click on this link:

Question: I need to do some calculations for converting standard measurements to metric. What site do you suggest for this?

Answer: There are many sites that contain measurement converters, but one of the simplest can be found at google.com. Simply go to www.google.com. For example, type in "9890 yards in centimeters" (without the quotes) into the search field. Click your cursor arrow on the "Search" button and your answer (904341.6 centimeters) will appear. This tool works when figuring units of measure, math problems, physical constants, and, of course, conversions. Give it a try.

This Site Gets Popular Votehttp://www.uselections.com/ - Here's a non-partisan site that covers a lot of political ground including voter information, campaign finance updates, news and blogs, poll results, and political humor. Click on any state to see who is running for office. Get links to campaign websites. Read the headlines from newspapers across the country. If you want to stay informed on politics this month, this online resource could be just the ticket.

Too Much Turkey?http://www.recipegoldmine.com/turkeyleftovers/turkey.html - Once Thanksgiving dinner is done, what do you do with all the turkey that fills up your frig? Sure, you can make turkey sandwiches. But if you're hungry for something a bit more exciting, get inspired at recipegoldmine.com. From Gobble Gobble Casserole to Mexican Turkey Tortilla Soup, there's a recipe here to please any family.

Play Jeopardy! Onlinehttp://www.jeopardy.com - If you can't get enough of Alex Trebek and this hugely popular game show, try your hand at the online version. It's fast-paced fun that covers the same kinds of categories you see on TV. Or test your music knowledge with the new online Rock & Roll Jeopardy! You can also find out how to become a contestant, take a 360° set tour, check out the message board, and even buy a Jeopardy! ringtone. Without question, this could be the answer to a dull afternoon.

All Lit Uphttp://www.deckthehallsmovie.com/ - Here's a holiday movie that takes a humorous look at the competitive "sport" of Christmas decorating in the suburbs. When new neighbor Danny (Danny DeVito) sets out to create the biggest holiday light display in the world, it turns the neighborhood into a nightmare. Steve (Matthew Broderick), a suburban dad and Christmas enthusiast, finds his previously well-planned life suddenly turned upside down. In theaters in November, this electrically charged family film has the power to light up the season.

100 Snapshots Every Hourhttp://www.tenbyten.org/now.html - A 2005 Webby Award winner, this fascinating site offers an ever-changing view of world events. Each hour, 10x10™ collects the 100 words and pictures that matter most on a global scale and presents them in a single picture postcard. The pictures and corresponding news bites are retrieved automatically from three international news services - Reuters World News, BBC World Edition, and New York Times International News. Simply click on any of the 100 images to read the corresponding news stories.

More people are choosing to send their Christmas cards via e-mail rather than through traditional mailing methods. Many recipients, however, are hesitant about opening e-mail attachments even from friends because of the viruses and worms floating around the Web. What to do? Why not create your own e-mail Christmas card by pasting images (family vacation photos, for instance) into the message pane of your e-mail message? It's easy to do. It's a good idea to only use pictures with a small file size as using large picture files will result in slow download times for dial-up connections.

To add pictures to your e-mail messages, follow these steps:

Using Windows XP SP2 Home Edition and Outlook Express 6

Open Outlook Express.

Create a new message and prepare it for sending by addressing, giving it a title (subject), and composing a message.

Click your cursor arrow at the location where you'd like to place the photo within your message and then click on "Insert" located on the Message Menu Bar. Select "Picture" from the resulting drop-down menu.

When the Picture Dialog Box appears, click the "Browse" button to locate the picture you want to send.

Click on the picture's location to select it. Click "Open" to return to the Picture Dialog Box.

Select from various options to alter the attributes of your photo, i.e. layout, alignment, border thickness, etc. You do not need to select any of them.

If you want to describe the picture for "text only" e-mail programs, click in the "Alternate Text" field, type a description of the picture, and then click "OK."

Click "OK" once you've completed your settings.

Complete your message and click "Send."

Using Netscape 7.2 on Windows XP SP2 and Mac OS X 10.4.9

Open Netscape Navigator Mail 7.2.

Create a new message and prepare it for sending by addressing, giving it a title (subject), and composing a message.

Click your cursor arrow at the location where you'd like to place the photo within your message. Click on "Insert" located on the Message Menu Bar. Select "Image" from the resulting drop-down menu.

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)

Trademarks: All brand names and product names used in this eNewsletter are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Warning!- Stay Alert For Cashier's Check Scams On Web Purchases

Fake cashier's checks have been used for years by crooks posing as Internet buyers, and new variations of this scam are also stealing money from unsuspecting victims. If you sell items online or receive any online requests involving cashier's checks, pay close attention to this warning.

Here's how a typical cashier's check scam works: You are selling a valuable item over the Internet such as a car or computer. You receive an e-mail offer through a relay service with the buyer promising to pay by cashier's check. An authentic-looking check arrives, but it is made out for several thousand dollars more than the agreed upon price and the buyer asks you to wire the difference back. Your bank accepts the check and credits your account for the money so you wire the extra money back to the seller. But later, the cashier's check turns out to be counterfeit so you're out both the sold item and the extra money you sent to the buyer.

Another variation of this scam involves people who become friends through online chat rooms and e-mail. For example, a man may chat with a woman for a couple of months (to gain her trust) and then tell her he'd like to move to the country where she resides. He asks her to get him an apartment, sends a cashier's check for thousands of dollars, and tells her to wire him back the overpayment. The check, of course, is counterfeit and any money she wires to him is lost. People have also been scammed by fake cashier's checks sent to pay for work done at home, or as an "advance" on a sweepstakes they've supposedly won.

We remind you to be extremely skeptical of a cashier's check from an unfamiliar source. It may look so authentic that your bank cannot determine if it's fake until several days or even weeks later. Under federal law, banks have to make the funds you deposit available quickly — usually within one to five days, depending on the type of check. But just because you can withdraw the money doesn't mean the check is good — even if it's a cashier's check. It can take weeks for the forgery to be discovered and the check to bounce.

3 Rivers Communications is upgrading its DSL broadband Internet service. Beginning October 1, the "standard" (up to 350k) and "premium" (up to 700k) services will be eliminated. All current and new DSL customers will receive 3 Rivers' new service with a download speed of up to 1Mb for the current standard service price of $49.95 per month.

If you are a current customer and have questions as to how this change may affect your service or bill, or if you are a dial-up customer and would like to sign up for 3 Rivers DSL broadband Internet service, please call one of our customer service representatives at 1-800-796-4567 (467-2535 local).

As with other providers, 3 Rivers' DSL speed is not guaranteed and speeds may vary by location. Actual download speeds depend on a variety of factors including line conditions and distance from a 3 Rivers central office. DSL service is not available in all areas and is subject to qualification by 3 Rivers.

Ask The Help Desk - Can You View More Than One Browser Window At A Time?

Question: Is it possible to view more than one window from my browser at the same time? If so, how do you do it?

Answer: Yes. Two or more browser windows open on your desk top at the same time can be helpful when you want to view a new web page without leaving behind the current one you are viewing. It can be especially beneficial when comparing information on two or more web pages, such as when you want to do comparison shopping on multiple e-commerce websites during this holiday season.

To open an additional browser window in Microsoft Internet Explorer, go to the File menu, select "New," and then click "Window." As a shortcut, you can press the Control (ctrl) key on your keyboard as well as the letter "N" (ctrl+N).

With Mozilla's Firefox Web browser, you can choose to either open a new browser window or a new tab -- the latter provides a convenient way to access multiple web pages within a single browser window.

To open a new window in Firefox, go to the File menu and select "New Window." As in Internet Explorer, the shortcut is CTRL+N. To open a new tab, select "New Tab" from the File menu or use the CTRL+T shortcut.

To open an additional browser window when using Macintosh’s Safari, select "New Window" from the File menu. The shortcut is to press the "Command" key (the key with the apple symbol on it) along with the letter "N" (command+N).

Essential Reading Before Flyinghttp://www.tsa.gov/index.shtm - To check or not to check? We suggest you check out the site of the Transportation Security Administration before you pack for your next plane trip. Posted here is the most current and detailed information on airport screening procedures and baggage contents restrictions. Take a few minutes to review the rules and you can spare yourself some annoying surprises at the terminal.

Carve Out Time For Pumpkinshttp://pumpkincarving101.com - After you go to the pumpkin patch, make this "cutting edge" site your next stop. It explains absolutely everything you need to know about pumpkin carving to get ready for Halloween night. Learn how to select the right pumpkin, which tools to use, and how to create masterpiece Jack O' Lanterns with the help of stencils. You'll even get tips on extending the lifespan of your creations and photographing them successfully.

Discover Geocachinghttp://www.geocaching.com/ - Searching for a new hobby? Explore Geocaching — the adventure game for GPS users which began in 2000. Participants hunt for caches (boxes with a logbook and little treasures) that have been placed all over the world in both remote locations and cities. Location coordinates are posted online but the challenge is actually getting there and finding the cache. When you do, you take an item from the box and leave one of your own. This official site provides all the directions you'll need to get started.

Poor Pluto Gets Demotedhttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Pluto - On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) formally downgraded Pluto from an official planet to a dwarf planet. Feeling a little sorry for little Pluto? Find out more at this NASA site, including details on the New Horizons mission that will reach Pluto in July 2015 - the first visit of its kind. Scientists hope the long journey will finally answer questions about the mysterious dwarf planet's surface properties, geology, and atmosphere.

For Fans of College Footballhttp://fanblogs.com - Forbes.com calls this "…the best blog dedicated to a single sport." If you're crazy about college football, you'll want to read the comments posted by other fans (and maybe add a few of your own). Join the heated discussions, participate in polls, and sign up for RSS feeds about your favorite college team. It's a site sure to score big with football fans this fall.

Most e-mail software programs are set as a default to check for incoming e-mail messages every ten minutes. If a message has been received, an e-mail sound alert notifies the computer user that a message is available for him/her to read. If these alert notices are too frequent for your liking, the settings can easily be adjusted. Follow the steps below to change the frequency that your e-mail software checks for and advises you of new e-mail messages.

Adjust Frequency of Incoming E-mail Pick-ups in Outlook Express When Using Windows XP:

With Outlook Express open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" located on the menu bar and select "Options" from the drop-down menu.

When the "Options" window appears, click on the "General" tab.

Under "Send/Receive Messages," look for the check boxes next to "Play sound when new messages arrive" and "Check for new messages every (# of minutes) minute(s)." If you want to turn off the alert sound, uncheck its check box. If you want to change the frequency of mail pick-ups, either uncheck its check box or change the number of minutes between pick-ups to a more suitable number.

Click on the "Apply" button and click "OK" to close the window.

Adjust Frequency of Incoming E-mail Pick-ups in Outlook When Using Windows XP:

With Outlook open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" located on the menu bar. Drop down to "Send/Receive" from the drop-down menu and then "Send/Receive Settings" from the resulting submenu. Then choose "Define Send/Receive Groups" from the next submenu. Or, if that sounds too complicated, press on the "Ctrl" + "Alt" + "S" keys.

When the "Send/Receive Groups" window appears, select the groups you want to modify in the "Group Name" field or just select "All Accounts" to make your changes global.

Look for settings for the group "All Accounts" or the name of the group you selected and then look for the check box next to "Schedule an automatic send/receive every (# of minutes) minutes." Change the time in the field to whatever amount of time seems reasonable.

Click on the "Close" button to close the "Send/Receive Groups" window.

Adjust Frequency of Incoming E-mail Pick-ups in Thunderbird 1.0.7 When Using Windows XP and Thunderbird 1.5 on Mac OS X:

With Thunderbird open, click your cursor arrow on "Tools" located on the menu bar and drop down to "Account Settings" from the resulting drop-down menu.

When the "Account Settings" window opens, click on your account name in the pane on the left side and, if it has a small "+" (plus sign) next to it, expand it by clicking on it.

Click on "Server Settings."

Under "Server Settings," look for "Check for new messages every (# of minutes) minutes." Adjust the number of minutes in the field to whatever amount of time seems reasonable.

With Netscape Mail open, click your cursor arrow on "Edit" located on the menu bar and drop down to "Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings" from the resulting drop-down menu.

When the "Account Settings" window opens, click on your account name in the pane on the left side. If the arrow next to the account name is pointing to the right, click on it so that it points down and expands to show the server settings.

Click on "Server Settings."

Under "Server Settings," look for "Check for new messages every (# of minutes) minutes." Adjust the number of minutes in the field to whatever amount of time seems reasonable.

(We have used our best efforts in collecting and preparing the information published herein. However, we do not assume, and hereby disclaim, any and all liability for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions resulted from negligence, accident, or other causes.)